Gold Coverage goes above and beyond the manufacturer's warranty to protect your gear from unexpected breakdowns, accidental damage from handling
and failures. This plan covers your product for one, two, three or up to five years from your date of purchase, costs just pennies per day and gives you a
complete "no-worry" solution for protecting your investment.

Gold Coverage Includes:

Unexpected and unintentional spills, drops and cracks

Normal wear and tear

Power surges

Dust, internal heat and humidity

Other plan features include:

For products over $200, No Lemon Policy applies. If it fails for the same defect 3 times, it is replaced on the 4th breakdown. (Does not apply to failures due to drops, spills, and cracks)

For products under $200 experiencing the above failures, a Musician's Friend gift card will be issued for the full price of the product + tax.

This review is only regarding the lead/tenor mallets, both walnut and aluminum.

These mallets (or sticks, traditionally) are extremely light in weight. This helps avoid hard hits when going from the upper register to the lower one.

The greatest thing about these mallets, both SW and SA, are that they have rubber tips on both ends. When you hold them right-handed (using the logos as reference), you use the hard side, where the rubber tips are thin. When holding them left-handed, the rubber is thicker and better suits the lower pitches on your pan.

The weight of the wood and aluminum are virtually identical! I was stunned by this. I have had them for about a month and play every day, and I cannot feel a different in weight. Only the texture is different. The wood is easier to grip, but for my tastes, the aluminum, smooth handles are more preferable to hold.

The only bad thing about them is the the rubber tips may not be seeded properly. It is an easy fix, just to slide them down the shaft to overlap the ends; be careful (use your index finger and thumb) when you adjust these, as they are fragile.

Also, it is nice that you can order 1,000 mallets and they will be nearly identical in size and weight.

I have used the walnut handled pan mallets ever since I got them, but last week, I used the aluminum handled version for the first time. I performed an hour and a half gig, no different from any other, and both edges (underneath the rubber tips) cut through the rubber and clanked against my pan.

The aluminum also generate a sharp attack. I will not use these again because they seem to me to be undependable and ineffective for producing a good tone quality. I would advice sticking with the walnut handles. I've been using the same pair for a year and a half, only needing to replace worn tips.